Bill Montgomery, minuteman enthusiast, speaking at an MCDC event near the border in 2006

At a pretrial conference Wednesday before Commissioner Virginia Richter, deputy county attorney Yigael Cohen signaled that the Maricopa County Attorney's Office will be offering a plea deal in the case of former minuteman leader Chris Simcox.

Simcox, 52, was arrested June 19, and is currently being held nonbondable on six felony counts related to child molestation and sexual conduct with minors under the age of 10.

Initially, the allegations involved three kindergarten-aged girls, one of them his own daughter. (Simcox was a kindergarten teacher in Los Angeles, before his move to Arizona.)

Since his arrest, the prosecution has dropped one victim -- a little girl Simcox allegedly bribed with candy to show him her underwear. Now, the other two victims in the case, each of whom say they were molested by Simcox, may be denied the justice they deserve.

The prosecutor did not describe the plea offer to the court. In fact, he said he still had to write it up for review by the defense.

And, significantly, at the mention of a plea deal, Simcox, who was standing in the jury box in stripes and shackles, shook his head, as if to reject the offer out of hand.

On any one of the class 2 felonies he's charged with, Simcox could receive life in prison, if found guilty.

And if he does not receive life, any time Simcox draws on the separate counts would have to be served consecutively. The possible sentencing range for one count is 13 to 27 years.

That's assuming he will remain charged with those separate class 2 felonies, and is found or pleads guilty.

After the hearing, outside the courtroom, I saw the prosecutor speaking with Michelle Lynch, the mother of one of Simcox's victims.

Lynch was in tears and very upset. I overheard what the prosecutor had to say to her.

"I will let your views be known," he said at one point before rushing off. "It's not set in stone."

Lynch declined comment for this report.

Whatever the plea offer is, based on Lynch's reaction to it, we can assume it is not good for the victims.

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First of all you have to wonder what his X is with the creep that used to be the State director of the AZ Minutemen, Hes is just as hateful toward C Simcox as she is. You all may want to hold your tongue and not bare a false witness till this is over and afford him the better part of the doubt. it could be you or me next for something that may or may not be true. This web site seems to lean toward hate and spite anyway, but it is at least reporting something.

Montgomery is fighting to stop Mary Rose from weighing in on Melendrez when she had no stake in it but is offering a plea deal to a child molester friend. He should have another office prosecute this case. Obvious.

MontyPug was a DCA at the time, so I wonder if Candy Andy Thomas and the narcissistic old man had anything to do with MontyPug's decision to attend a Minuteman patrol with a child molester.

Also, does MontyPug even know what the definition of Minuteman is? It comes from the hateful old man's home state of Massachusetts and it stems from the Revolutionary War and the average citizen being ready, willing and able to defend his home, his state and his country in a minute.

This shouldn't come as a surprise at all. since the MASTER RACIST seems 2 love child molesters, what can B expected from his LAP DOG MONTY. That makes me wonder if they could have a "DARK SIDE"...U know...there could B D posibility of beign pedophiles themselves.That could explain a lot, like the uninvestigated sexual assault cases from El Mirage.

I'm betting there is a whole network of these right-wing conservative religious types that go on child-prostitution junkets and Simcox was one of the organizers. Remember the Keating Five? Yeah, their leader was the foremost collector of pornography in the world, Charles Keating. He formed the Citizens for Decency which was a pious cover for his neferious dealings with people in power.

A deal with a sex molester - makes you wonder where the MCA conscience is on the protection of our kids. maybe they feel sorry for him and are forgetting the victims.. corruptive practices to protect their own? Is this the Arizona we are proud of? I don't know about you but this is disgusting and shameful conduct on behalf of our public safety protectors.

@truthseekeraz They are concerned for their safety, I know that to be a fact. He is a horrible person and you are right, he deserves several life sentences but do you think that with his connections that they will do anything right in this case.

@Terry He is guilty of what he is accused of and I feel for those little ones. He will get the plea deal and I hope his ego doesn't let him accept it cause I would love to see this go to trial. I will sit right there in the front row and watch his squirm. I do not speak from speculation. And he is a creep.

@alwesley Our esteemed Attorney General Eric Holder has provided many an example where being the head of a department is not necessarily congruent with Conflicts of Interest regarding the entire agency.

Guess time will tell, but Chris Simcox has been in the news a lot he was accused not long ago of threatening his estranged wife and her new lover a bounty hunter, guess he is a minute man in some folks eyes and a two minute man in his estranged wife's eyes! Now he has resorted to little girls!

@Vicky Pettit As I understand it, the implication is that, while Montgomery may not have known about it before, now that it has come out, Montgomery, as Simcox's good friend, will try to sweep it under the rug and let the scumwaffle that Simcox is fundamentally get away with at least three felonies.

@FRONTERA Justice, one could only hope but the crime will never leave them untouched. This is such a horrible thing that was done to innocent children. I am sad with that knowing it will be unforgettable to the innocent. I wish for him to get the book thrown at him but with his buddies in the police, HE will get off scott free and his victims will live with this forever.

@dennis20 Well said Dennis. SOP in Maricopa County where you have,both the CA and the County Shurf putting a low priority on going after sex crimes. I want to know where the hell is the rest of the media ? Why aren't they covering this? If this does happen we should make a concerted effort to bring this back up to the voters come election time.

@yourproductsucks Chris's Ex-Wife was never 'with' the bounty hunter. That was an accusation Chris made alongside many other people he accused her of cheating with. None of which proved to be true. BTW: What is your source on that?

@shadeaux14 @toersbijnsc I was speaking optimistically which was foolish on my part ~ a part of me always hopes the good things in people lets them do the right thing but in this case, you are right... I must have had a lapse of reality when I wrote that.. thanks for putting me straight. Now don't I look like a fool? The reality is that their rule of law and moral standards are created to suit their own not that of the public or even the kids that were violated by this monster.. He got caught doing some things but I am sure not of all the perverted things he has done as a sex offender. Speaking from my experience working with SO's in prison, they only get caught doing a fraction of the harm to children actually reported. Wonder if they take that into consideration when they plea on this matter? I doubt it ~ in that case they are sex molester enablers and that is just as bad.

@yourproductsucks, after reading UR posts, it seems that UR position is in favor of the child molester Simcox 4 him 2 get a deal, when none should B offered; by offering a deal, some of the charges have 2 B dropped, ergo, justice will B denied 4 some of D victims. I guess U just follow UR boss's actions when it comes 2 child molesters...give them a break

@yourproductsucks@PinkPanther1976 I do, but most of these cases fly under the radar, unless it's one of those "high school teacher screws student" ones. this simcox deal, everyone will know about, and it won't look good for Bill.